Galaxy lose playoff series to Colorado on penalty kicks

The LA Galaxy were eliminated from the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs following a defeat to the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference Semifinals.

A frustrated Galaxy coach Bruce Arena did not hesitate to critique his players after the game.

“Not much of a factor," said Arena of star Giovani dos Santos' performance.  "It’s the whole part of his learning curve where he has to have a greater presence game in and game out to be a really special player. He has some great qualities and I think as we get into next year it will be a second full year of playing in his professional career properly. He should be more demanding of himself to have a greater presence game in and game out.”

The Colorado Rapids advanced on penalty kicks after the series finished with a 1-1 aggregate score line between the first and second legs of the semifinals.

“Obviously, they have a very experienced goalkeeper [Tim Howard] and we don’t," said Arena of the penalty kicks.  "Maybe the difference was the goalkeeper today.”

The Galaxy earned a 1-0 win at StubHub Center in the first leg of the series last Sunday, Oct. 30. In Sunday’s second leg against Colorado, the match went to extra time after the Rapids led 1-0 at the end of 90 minutes before advancing on 3-1 penalty kicks.

Although Steven Gerrard made the Galaxy's first penalty kick, later attempts by dos Santos, Ashley Cole, and Jeff Larentowicz failed.

“I thought Stevie [Gerrard] did really well," said Arena.  "Obviously, he’s been out almost eight weeks and it’s been difficulty getting back. Today, when called upon, he did his job and took his penalty the way you would expect Steven Gerrard would take his penalty.”

The Galaxy finished the 2016 MLS Regular Season in third place in the MLS Western Conference standings with a 12-6-16 record and 52 points.

LA defeated Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center in the MLS Western Conference Knockout Round before advancing to the conference semifinals against Colorado.

Scoring Summary:
COL – Shkelzen Gashi (Assisted by Sam Cronin) 36’

Penalties:
LA – Steven Gerrard (scored)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (0)

COL – Kevin Doyle (scored)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (1)

LA – Giovani dos Santos (miss)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (1)

COL – Sebastien Le Toux (scored)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (2)

LA – Ashley Cole (saved)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (2)

COL – Marco Pappa (scored)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (3)

LA – Jeff Larentowicz (saved)
LA Galaxy (1) Colorado Rapids (3)

Final: LA Galaxy (1) Colorado (3)

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services